The Hourglass
by CrystalDream
Summary: "Quickly Daniel. You don't have much time," he mocked, his voice filled with derision. "As soon as the sand in the hourglass has fallen to the bottom, it will be over for you." DXS/angst...oneshot


_This is what happens when I get a plot bunny at eleven thirty at night, and stay up until almost two o'clock, writing it... _

_Needless to say, I got the idea by watching an hourglass. I love getting inspired by random things ;D_

_I'll be updating Home is Where The Heart Is this week hopefully, (just a little heads up for anyone who's wondering what happened with that story), but until then, enjoy this angsty little oneshot :D_

_PS. I apologize in advance for the ending...I had to do it ;) Oh, and by the way, this oneshot takes place in the Ghost Zone. Happy Reading!_

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I glanced at the giant hourglass, my heart pounding. The soft glittery crystals were rapidly sifting through to the other half of the sand timer. I could barely see the line of white crystals that was falling through to the other half of the hourglass, but I could see the mound of sand at the bottom growing larger. My heart beat faster as the sand began to fall even quicker than before. I glanced back at Plasmius, who was floating high in the air, a triumphant smile on his face.

"Quickly Daniel. You don't have much time," he mocked, his voice filled with derision. "As soon as the sand in the hourglass has fallen to the bottom, it will be over for you."

I felt my heart burn with hatred for the man who had set up this trap. I wanted to blast him into a million pieces for endangering her, for putting her at risk. I wanted to tear him apart for even touching her, but now was not the time. I flew through the set of fiery circus rings that was standing before me, eager to reach my goal. Eager to reach Sam.

Sam was at the other end of this obstacle course of doom. The girl I loved was being held captive, and unless I was able to reach her before the last crystal of the hourglass fell…well…I didn't want to find out what would happen. As I dodged a few pounding blocks of cement, I wondered why Vlad had done this. Revenge? Spite? Whatever, it didn't matter. All that mattered now was getting to Sam.

I came across a tall barbed wire fence to which some ropes were attached at the top. The other end of the ropes was attached to a metal pole. I figured I was supposed to climb the fence, hang onto the ropes and make my way across, jungle-gym style, and then slide down the metal pole.

_Or I could just do this,_ I thought cockily, concentrating on turning myself intangible so I could fly through the obstacles before me. I noticed my left hand slowly turn invisible, but then it slowly flickered back to color. _I can't go intangible? _I felt a panicky sensation in my stomach. I tried to blast an ecto-beam, create a protective shield and even do a ghost wail. Nothing worked. _Nothing. _

"What's going? Why can't I phase through this?" I asked myself, half angry, half worried.

"Oh really Daniel," Vlad drawled, appearing before me, "You didn't really think I would make it that easy, did you? All your powers have been short-circuited, except for flight, obviously."

"You manipulating, unfair…cheesehead!" I sputtered angrily, glaring at him.

"Oh Daniel, cheesehead is a tad…_harsh_, don't you think?" he said, his voice laced with ridicule.

"When I get out of this Plasmius, you're going to be sorry you ever even-," I began, my eyes glowing a bright raging green.

"Ah-ah-ah," he cautioned, snapping his fingers and making the hourglass appear before me ,"Time is of the essence, my boy. You really mustn't waste it." And with that, he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Cursing under my breath, I placed my hands on the metal fence and began climbing. Along the way, I tore a peice of my hazmat suit on a piece of metal that was sticking out from the fence. I felt a bit of blood, but I didn't stop to examine it; Sam was waiting for me. I _had_ to get to her.

After having crossed the jungle gym ropes and having slid down the metal pole, my fingers were chafed and my palms burned. I had slid down into a whole other part of the Ghost Zone. It was dark and imposing, and I felt as though someone were watching me. I ventured forth suspiciously, when suddenly I heard a blast from behind me. The darkness was suddenly lit by the glow of at least a dozen ectoplamsic mignons who were shooting ecto-beams at me. Ordinarily I would have just turned intangible, but since that was out of the question, I had to fly through the seemingly endless corridor, dodging the green beams as best I could.

_This is so sick. _I thought disgustedly. I had almost reached the other end of the shapeless hall when a powerful ecto-beam hit me straight in the shoulder, knocking me down. _What in the world…Those mindless idiots couldn't have fired something that powerful…_I thought, confused. Looking up, I noticed it wasn't one of Plasmius' mignons that had shot me. It was Skulker.

"Get up whelp. Actually, no. Stay there. It'll make it easier for me to finish you off," he said in a satisfied voice.

"Get out of my way, Skulker," I said in a firm and even voice, accentuating each word. "Get out of my way, and no one gets hurt." At this, Skulker laughed. Hoisting his gun on his shoulder, he aimed straight for my chest. At the exact moment that he fired, I tried to create a protective shield around myself, momentarily forgetting that I wouldn't be able to. The beam from his gun hit me square in the chest, and I felt myself fall to the ground with a thud, blacking out for a few moments. It only took a few seconds for me to regain consciousness, but by the time I had, Skulker had left and there was a great stain of blood on my chest. I tried to get up but I couldn't. I was too weak and too dizzy. I fell to the floor, on my hands and knees, my head hanging. _I have to go on,_ I thought breathlessly. _I have to. Sam needs me. I made it this far; I have to save her, even if it's the last thing I ever do._

Bruised, bloody and sporting a terrible pounding headache, I tried to force myself to stand up. But my knees buckled and I fell to the ground again. My muscles were aching and every bone in my body was screaming in pain. My hair was disheveled and I was cut in many places. I was almost ready to surrender when Vlad appeared before me once more.

"Tsk, tsk, Daniel. You can't leave your little friend to suffer in pain, can you?" he scorned. "Besides, you don't have much time left…" The hourglass appeared before me again, this time with considerably less sand in the top half than in the second. My heart started beating quicker than ever before and my stomach churned restlessly. I seemed to regain some of my strength through the determination of wanting to find Sam.

I flew around for awhile, searching for her, calling her name, until I finally came across a small window. I found her on the other side of the glass window. She was sitting in a corner, tied with some sort of ecto-powered rope. I called her name, but she didn't seem to notice. I searched frantically for a door to get in, but found nothing.

_This is so incredibly sick…_I thought. _I can't phase through and there's no door…_I sighed. _I guess I'll just have to do this old-fashioned way. _

I flew back a couple of meters and centered in on my target. Then, flying at top speed, I dashed towards the window, trying to break it with the right side of my body. Instead of breaking the glass, I simply crashed into the window and fell against the invisible wall that seemed to be beneath it. My arm began pounding in pain and I think I might have gotten a concussion, but after several more tries, I succeeded in shattering the window. A shard of glass got stuck in my hand on the way in, but I didn't even stop to think of the pain. I _needed _to get to Sam before the time was up.

I flew over to the corner of the room in which she was sitting, but as I came closer to her, I felt some sort of invisible wall block my way. I couldn't see where or what it was, so this was much harder to do it, but I used the same technique I had used on the window. I finally broke through it, and I headed towards her when suddenly a searing pain shot through my arm, stopping me from moving a single inch further.

"Oh my, this is most definitely a problem."

_Vlad. _I seethed.

"What are you doing, you snake?" I managed as I held onto my arm, trying to squeeze the pain out of it.

"I just can't let you win. I can't let you reach Samantha…that would be _unsporting_ of me," he said with a smile.

"Stop! Stop the pain Vlad! I don't what you're doing to me, but make it stop!" I yelled in agony, the sting in my arm growing worse with each passing second.

"Oh it will stop, boy. Just as soon as the hourglass' last crystal falls."

"No! NO! STOP! MAKE IT STOP! I NEED TO SEE SAM! YOU CHEATING LIAR! I NEED TO SEE HER! MAKE IT STOP!" I shouted.

For a moment all of time stood still as I watched the last piece of white, crystallized sand fall onto the hill of sand in the bottom half of the hourglass. Almost instantly, the pain in my arm disappeared, but as I reached out for Sam, so did she.

"What did you do to her, you monster?!" I said abrasively, so angry that I couldn't even yell.

"I'm sorry my boy, but you failed to meet the conditions. You did not rescue her before the time was up," he gestured at the hourglass. "And so, I'm afraid her fate is sealed."

I heard a scream come from below us. Sam's scream.

"Where is she? WHERE IS SHE?" I raged, my temper boiling to the surface. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?!"

"Ah, but it is not what I have done, Daniel. It's what you haven't. And you haven't saved her."

I felt my hand curl into a fist as I readied myself to punch the hybrid before me. However, after having thrown the punch, I realized he was no longer there.

"Until next time, Daniel," his voice rang through the air, though I couldn't see him anywhere.

"You'll pay for this, ghost! Mark my words you will! YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU EVER EVEN CAME NEAR ME OR MY FRIENDS!" I shouted out into the air.

I gave a heavy sigh as the raging fire in my stomach slowly flickered away; He was gone. I slowly brought my eyes to the spot where Sam had been sitting earlier. I closed my eyes and fell on my knees, my heart torn into a million peices. _I'm sorry, Sam. _

"I'm sorry, Sam…" I whispered quietly, shaking slightly, "_I'm so sorry_."

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End file.
